#WriterWednesday Interview with Leslie Gadallah

I’d like to welcome author Leslie Gadallah to the blog for an end-of-summer edition of #WriterWednesday!

A few of your favorite summer traditions:

I don't know if you'd consider this a tradition, but I do garden every summer, with the intent of getting a supply of veggies for the winter. It sounds like a chore, but I enjoy it.

Something summer-related that you’ll never do again:

Hang out in a public swimming pool. It's loud, choking in chlorine, and as sanitary as a sewer.

Favorite summer treat:

Wild strawberries right off the plant still warm from the sun.

A summer treat that makes you gag:

Stuff with shellfish in it.

Something crazy you did on vacation:

Swam with the stingrays off the coast of Grand Cayman. The fish were utterly fearless and quite curious. The whole mob came swooping by, turned, and hung around. They were so cool.

Something you’d never do again on vacation

Rent a B&B without checking it out first. You might ask, how bad can it be? Answer: really bad.

Best summer vacation ever:

Hanging out with my daughter in the Cayman Islands. It was awhile ago, when it wasn't so touristified as now.

Somewhere where you don’t ever want to return:

Paris. Ugh.

Favorite thing to do on a summer evening:

Sit on the deck with a glass of wine and a good friend.

Least favorite thing about summer

Mosquitoes

The thing you like most about being a writer:

Those days when the story flows and you look up from writing a desert scene and wonder how the heck it could be snowing outside.

The thing you like least about being a writer:

Those day when I'm totally blocked in the middle of a book, and don't know how to go on.

Things you will run to the store for in the middle of the night:

A kid's medicine.

Things you never put on your shopping list:

Shrimp. Mushrooms.

The thing that you will most remember about your writing life:

The first time an editor phoned and said their house would like to do my book.

Something in your writing life that you wish you could do over:

I had a chance to chat with Judith Merill, and I was so tongue-tied, I blew it.

The nicest thing a reader said to you:

A woman came up to me at a convention and said she had been trying for some time to get up the courage to tell me how much she enjoyed my book. And I thought I was the one with social anxiety.

The craziest thing a reader said to you:

I had a fellow seriously man-splain to me a book I had written. I had a hard time keeping a straight face.

The best summer job you ever had:

A photo finishing shop in the days when actual people handled the pictures. I got my sex education that summer.

The worst summer job you ever had:

Stoop labour at a berry farm.

About Leslie

Leslie Gadallah grew up in Alberta and is currently living in Lethbridge, Canada with her with her geriatric black cat, Spook. Educated as a chemist, she has worked in analytical, agricultural, biological and clinical chemistry. She has written popular science for newspapers and radio, has served as technical editor, and is the author of four SF novels and a number of short stories.